10 years of Smilianskyi at Ukrposhta: over UAH 3.3 billion losses and UAH 0.75 billion profits

Today marks 10 years since Ihor Smilianskyi, a financier with experience in large audit firms and banks in the USA and Ukraine, headed the state-owned national postal operator, Ukrposhta.

It was on April 20, 2016 that the Cabinet of Ministers appointed him Acting Director General of Ukrposhta.

The first factor by which the activities of the company and its head can be evaluated is the financial result.

During the years of Smilianskyi's activity (except for the last one - the financial statements for 2025 have not yet been published), the company received UAH 0.75 billion in profit and more than UAH 3.3 billion in losses. Each of the years 2016-2018 was unprofitable for Ukrposhta - in total, during this period the company worked out UAH 846.741 million. The next three years - 2019-2021 were profitable. Total net profit after tax - UAH 753.862 million. But after the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukrposhta again began to show losses - for a total amount of UAH 2.5 billion, the largest in 2022 - UAH 1.25 billion.

It is worth noting that for all eight years mentioned, the gross financial result of Ukrposhta (gross revenue from sales minus the cost of goods and services) was positive. In general, gross profit for the entire period amounted to UAH 7.9 billion.

It is also impossible not to note the achievements of the company - Ukrposhta built 24 sorting centers with automation (up to 8,000 parcels per hour), significantly increased the volume of parcel delivery itself, expanded the range of services, including financial ones, and developed an online infrastructure. Smilianskyi tried to change the outdated, still largely Soviet, standards of the company's work. And in 2025, the Universal Postal Union included Ukrposhta in the top three fastest-growing postal operators in the world based on the Integrated Postal Development Index (2IPD). And this despite a full-scale war.

At the same time, Smilianskyi is known for his original, sometimes aggressive management style and open communication, which makes him one of the most discussed figures in the public sector of Ukraine. And with such a style, he was at the epicenter of many media scandals and was often the object of criticism.

The loudest of them is the discussion of Smilianskyi's high salary, which, against the background of Ukrposhta's financial losses and the minimum salaries of postmen, raises questions. He is also constantly in conflict with the NBU, both regarding obtaining a banking license and the work of Ukrposhta and the situation on the financial market in general. The latest story is when the regulator doubts the managerial competence of Smilianskyi (who has significant experience as a financier even before Ukrposhta), and he accuses the NBU of manipulating the company's financial indicators and the lack of any external control. We can also recall Smilianskyi's frequent harsh statements on social networks, for example, in a discussion about the company's rebranding, he called his opponent a "prostitute".

But despite all the scandals, Ihor Smilianskyi remained in his position both during the presidency of Petro Poroshenko and during the presidency of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. After the resignation of the head of Ukrhydroenergo Ihor Syrota, he became the head of a state-owned company with the longest tenure.

The head of Ukrposhta was repeatedly asked when he could leave the company, he replied that his contract would expire 90 days after the end of martial law and he would not extend it and that his last task was to create a "postal bank".

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Smilianskyi previously noted that his total income before taxes, including salary and a 15% bonus for access to state secrets, is UAH 11,723,286 per year - an average of UAH 970,009 per month, which exceeds, for example, the salary of the US President.